Former England footballer hails his ‘dedicated’ son after he refuses to celebrate silver in the 5,000m – Great Britain’s first at the European Championships

His footballing father played in a World Cup for England but George Mills made his own mark on the international stage last night.

With his dad Danny cheering him on from the stands, British distance runner Mills claimed his first major medal with silver in the 5,000 metres at the European Championships.

It was a strong performance from the 25-year-old, who kept pace with world champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen until just before the final lap.

But the dedicated Mills insisted there would be no celebrations as he immediately turns his attention to the British Olympic trials at the end of the month.

‘That is what I expected from myself,’ he admitted. ‘I think if you are celebrating mid-season it’s a bit weird.’

The 25-year-old is the son of former Leeds and England full-back Danny Mills

By even running out at the Stadio Olimpico, he had already got one over his father, who twice failed to get off the bench in European games here for Leeds.

But Mills made sure he went home with more than just memories in only the third 5,000m of his career, picking up the silver in 13min 21.38sec, just over a second behind Norwegian superstar Ingebrigtsen.

‘I want to win races but Jakob was stronger,’ he said. ‘My family are probably happier than me.’

His father Danny added: ‘I sat on the bench twice for Leeds here and warmed up on the track. So we’ve now both run on this track, but he was a bit more successful than me! We’re a very proud family this evening.’

Mills’ silver was Britain’s first medal in Rome, but Romell Glave claimed their second in the next event with bronze in the 100m.

He clocked 10.06sec to finish behind home favourite Marcell Jacobs, the Olympic champion, who won in 10.02sec ahead of his countryman Chituru Ali.

Romell Glave claimed Britain’s second medal in the next event when he finished third in the 100m

‘I am happy with a bronze medal but not satisfied,’ said Glave, who was appearing in his first major championships.

Glave outshone his team-mate CJ Ujah, who failed to make the final in his first major appearance since his failed drugs test cost Team GB an Olympic 4x100m silver at Tokyo in 2021.

Ujah finished fifth in his semi-final in a pedestrian 10.24sec.